Burning Ghosts
by Margolo Blu
Summary: While Taurus hunts down Proteus in New York, Helios deals with the new interns in New Olympus.


_Thank Zeus for my mythology books. _

OMG, I did not realize I uploaded the wrong story here. Sorry!

**Burning Ghosts **

"Chief Taurus currently is not present here at the facility," Helios said to the incoming group of interns, a handful of youngish recruits hoping to join the rank of island security. Youngish meaning that some still had the bright, eager eyes of hopefuls while a few had the narrow, lower browed eyes of a cynic. "He is pursuing some personal matters."

"When will Chief Taurus return?" a naiad with hair that was the color of a lagoon asked. In his mind, Helios marked her as the first to go; by her own choice. In the corner of his mind, Helios also thought how ridiculous it was that everyone referred to Taurus as Chief Taurus, even in his absence.

"It is unknown when he will return," Helios said.

An anthropomorphic griffin towards the end of the line spoke up, "Pardon me, but are we suppose to be here if Chief Taurus isn't here? Who will train us?"

"I will; his second-in-command Helios. Just because Taurus is not here, does not mean you cannot receive the proper training," Helios said. "This is the first rule; there is more to this facility that Chief Taurus. This is not a one man operation. That's bull."

Helios paused. No laughter, not even the stifled kind, but the brown furred minotaur, smaller than Taurus with curving horns, standing beside the griffin rolled his eyes. Someone at least understood the barb.

"As I said before hand," Helios spoke as he inspected the handful, "this is not a one man operation. It is in fact an operation placed on the shoulders of many people, many well trained, highly intelligent, very worthy people. There is not a single person; everyone here is part of a structure. As an intern, you must find your strengths and even better; find where you can strength this structure."

Some nodded in agreement; others stared wide eyed in realization, realizing what they had just gotten themselves into.

"Good, I'm glad to see what I said is making an impression on you," Helios said. "This isn't a job for everyone. I am not just referring to the general populace, I am referring to you, the interns. Just because you want to do this, does not make you the proper building material for this structure. Got that?"

They all nodded, some with fast, jittery bobs of children, others with curt single nods.

"Good," Helios said, feeling quite good. He never was a good, strong orator. Orientation was always Taurus's job.

"As you know, I am Helios. When Taurus is not here, you answer to me. Taurus, as you know, is Chief of Security. He will be your employer, you answer to him, but until then, answer to me. I would like to know you on a first name basis, please introduce yourself," Helios said.

The naiad at the beginning of the line stepped forward nervously, "I am Calypso."

The female Cyclops put one foot forward. "My name is Harpalyce.

"Iphis," the lizardlike man said.

"Silenus," the plump satyr spoke up.

"Orion, but call me Rion," said the minotaur.

"Alexander," the griffin stated.

"Good to meet you all. Calypso, Harpalyce, Iphis, Silenus, Rion, Alexander," Helios repeated. "Now, come, we'll get you outfits."

There were cheers from a few. It was the most excited they sounded all day.

&&&

"As you can see your outfits are similar to that of the more experienced officers, but you lack the medallions. You receive these when you are accepted into the precinct. You'll receive more elaborate medallions when you work here for two years," Helios said.

The interns stood before him in a line in the dressing room. There were different styles of the security uniforms since there were so many different varieties of New Olympians with a variety of different shapes and appendages. The females, Calypso and Harpalyce wore kilts in place of the loincloths of the males. Calypso wore a long harness that covered her stomach (and probably her lack of muscles) while Harpalyce chose to wear a harness that resembled a support strap that exposed her muscular stomach, a stomach that would put her male companions to shame. Alexander, the griffin, since he had wings was unable to wear a harness. In place of a kilt, he wore a pair of pants with a thick leather belt that would hold his tools of the trade. A leather collar around his neck would sport his medallion if he would receive it. Iphis barely had any shoulders, so his harness kept sliding off until finally, Helios had to walk over the female dressing room and ask for a female harness for the slinky lizardman. The satyr, Silenus fought to keep his furry gut from falling out over his belt. Rion the minotaur was the first dressed. He chose the simple, traditional security outfit. Despite being smaller than Taurus, Rion had the same exact impressive physique as the older minotaur. Rion was the oldest of the interns, so he had a job prior to this one. Helios wondered what exactly that job was for Rion to get a build like that.

"Aren't there supposed to be capes?" asked Calypso, who had the look in her eye _Oh my god, I can't just wait to fix this chunky little outfit up and make it all stylish!_

"The capes are worn by senior officers, and they are mostly ornamental, so they are only used in public services. Since we will be working with prisoners, the capes will be dangerous, since the prisoners, if they turn aggressive, they can grab hold the capes and pull you close, or trip you, or wrap you up, or choke you," Helios said. "They are more of a hindrance than a help."

Calypso moaned dejectedly. She looked down at her red-brown leather kilt with its gold border disappointedly.

"Everyone comfortable?" Helios asked the group.

Everyone nodded slightly. Silenus pulled his shirt down over his stomach, and nodded, holding the shirt taut.

"Good, now, on to training," Helios said. "I know you all received training before hand, that is why you are here, but I want to see how well you were trained first hand."

Helios took the interns to a shooting range. There were a dozen stalls; a couple stalls were being used by more senior workers practicing their aim. Twenty yards down were the targets; red and blue bull's-eyes. Each intern as handed a special laser, set on a setting that would leave a burn, but not pierce the skin in case one went off, which it has happened; the sphinx guard on floor five sported a perfect circle through his catlike ear.

"I want you to be comfortable shooting. You all have your preferred stance, but remember, you have to have control of the gun in this stance, you have to have control of yourself in this stance, and you have to be able to see and aim in this stance. Remember that. These guns may be on a low setting, but treat them like they are on full power," Helios said. "You will be shooting twenty-five times to a target. The computer above will be keeping score."

The interns set up at the stall and began to shoot at the targets.

"Helios, how is this?" Calypso said from the first stall. The two older security guards were beside her, examining her handiwork.

"Holy Hades," a centaur said. "Look at that."

Twenty-five shoots, twenty-three dead center. The other two were in only a few inches shy of their brethren.

"Drop another target!" Helios exclaimed. Another target was dropped down.

Calypso fired. Twenty-one shots, dead center. The four missed shots were when Helios took the gun and shot it to see if it was working properly. It was. The two guardsmen decided to hang around and see what Calypso's secret was to her shooting. As if there really was a secret.

Harpalyce had a strong stance, though her aim was off. Fifteen out of twenty-five the first time and eighteen out of twenty-five the second time. Iphis was a little erratic, eleven out of twenty-five then shot up to nineteen out of twenty-five. Silenus was the worse, nine out of twenty-five and went to seven out of twenty-five. Helios saw a new office worker. Alexander was twenty out of twenty-five and again twenty out of twenty-five. Rion scored the same.

"Watch this," Alexander said.

He aimed and fired, twenty-five out of twenty-five--all bulls-eyes.

"Top that," Alexander said.

Rion smirked. He aimed his gun and shot. He missed the bulls-eye and missed again, and again.

Helios and Alexander stared in disbelief. Rion did not appear thwarted or even stressed, despite the fact he was missing the bulls-eye every shot. He looked like he exactly knew what he was doing.

"Top that," Rion said, finishing up his round. "I would have signed my name but I ran out of ammo."

A smiley face stared back at them from the target.

&&&

"Next, I would like to see you in hand to hand combat," Helios said. "We all have our gifts."

With that quote, Helios formed a fire ball in his hand and chunked it at a model. It burst into flame. Barely had the flames rose to the ceiling when a spray of water, from Calypso, put it out.

"Great job, Calypso," Helios said to the nymph, whose eyes glowed blue as she used her powers. "Not all of you have powers like Calypso and me, but you have strengths, and use those to your advantages. Whether it is speed, cunning, strength, flexibility, or some other unheard of ability, use it."

A group of specialized guards, twenty-five all together, robots like Talos, only smaller, padded, and with a different form of programming, came out from a sliding metal door.

"Here are your trainers. With one well place move, you can defeat one, and it will automatically shut off. Then another will take its place. But the same applies to you. One well placed move, and you're out. It's just like real life," Helios said. "Now, go! One on one, no double teaming the robots!"

Iphis jumped up on the ceiling, holding onto it with the special pads on his feet and hands. His lengthy tail wrapped around the neck of one of the trainer bots and picked it up two feet off of the ground. He sent it flying with a crack of his tail.

Flapping his wings, Alexander rose a few feet off the ground. As a bot approached him, he hit it squarely in the chest with his leonine feet. It stumbled backwards into a wall, hitting with such force that a crack formed upwards to the ceiling. Its red blinked once, then turned off in defeat. Alexander gloated. A second automaton appeared and took the griffin to the mat. Alexander was out.

"Pay attention next time Alexander," Helios exclaimed. "Don't gloat; there is time to gloat after you won the battle."

Harpalyce preferred hand to hand combat. She duked it out with the largest of the automatons, and punched it squarely in the jaw, knocking it out. A second one tried to sneak up on her. She reached back; taking its head in her large hands and heaved it over her shoulder into the wall. On its way to the wall, the automaton knocked another off of its feet. Iphis, who just defeated two automatons, crawled down the wall. There was a startled squawk as the lizardman was crushed under the forms of two automatons. Iphis was out, and so was Harpalyce, for her brash action.

Silenus ducked under the legs of one automaton and weave through the legs of another, tripping both of them. Another one began to chase after the fat satyr, who despite his appearance was very quick. Helios, thinking smugly, thought he looked like a hedgehog or maybe a fat little hamster running.

"Just try and get me, you scrap heap!" Silenus exclaimed. He ducked under some equipment and shot out the other end while the automaton tried to reach in and grab him. Silenus ran flat into the knees of another automaton, taking it down. Instead of falling forward, the automaton fell backward, on top of Silenus. Silenus, unharmed, was out, but he took an adversary down with him. Or did the adversary take Silenus down with him?

"Where's Calypso?" Helios asked, realizing that there was only Rion on the field.

"I'm right here," said Calypso beside him.

"How many did you take out?" he asked.

"None, I was doing a spell, and one grabbed me," she groused. "I was the first one out."

"How many did you guys take out all together?" Helios asked.

"One," angrily answered Alexander.

"Three," said Harpalyce.

"Three, also," wheezed Silenus.

"Two," answered Iphis. There were dark green-blue bruises forming up his body. His one eye was swelling shut, but otherwise, he was hale and healthy.

"So that is nine robots. How many has Rion taken out so far?" Helios asked.

"Two."

CRASH!

"Three."

**Thump! **

"Four."

**Smack, crash!**

"Five, six!"

Rion grabbed hold of one of the bars hanging from the ceiling and pulled himself up. He kicked a trainer in the head and sent it reeling. Another snuck up behind him. Quickly, he pulled himself up hire and turned on the pipe spinning so that when he around he kicked the automaton squarely in the back.

"Holy Hades!" exclaimed Silenus.

"I didn't know minotaurs could do that!" a startled Alexander squawked like a chicken.

"Rion, they're going to start double teaming now. It's going to be harder!" Helios said.

Rion landed on his feet just as two automatons approached him from two different directions. In a split second Rion took in his situation then just as the automatons had their arms around him, he ducked down and did a split as the automatons wrapped their arms around each other. Rion quickly got up and threw his bulk into the two automatons, tipping them over.

Rion went down on his feet again and slid his outstretched leg under the feet of a trainer. He flipped backwards just as another tried to attack him. In the flip, his feet caught the automaton in the jaw and took it out. Once again, Rion landed on his feet.

Four automatons were upon him. Rion dodged them and sprinted across the room to a long pole set in the floor. The pole was used for exercise; for shimming up and down to help building upper body muscles and endurance. Rion grabbed hold the pole and spun around, outstretching his one leg. He caught three of the automatons in the chest. The fourth one was ready and caught Rion by his foot and pulled him deftly off of the pole. Rion was sent reeling several feet before collapsing. Rion was out.

"Holy Hades!" exclaimed Silenus. It was all anyone could say if they could say anything at all. There were twenty-four shut off automatons around the enclosure, one still on.

Rion lay on his back, gasping for breath.

"Freaking incredible!" Helios exclaimed. "Fifteen!"

"It would have been sixteen if I didn't get so full of myself," Rion gasped from the mat. He held his hand up and with one clean pull Harpalyce pulled him to his feet and nearly pulled him too hard.

"A job well done," said Helios. He held his hand out for the minotaur to shake it. Rion took his hand and shook it.

"That was amazing!" Calypso exclaimed standing by the sweaty minotaur. She barely came to his elbow.

"I had never seen anything like that before, that was a completely different fighting style," Harpalyce said, hitting the minotaur in the shoulder. Rion grinned and gritted his teeth in response, his one eye wincing in pain.

"Thanks," he answered.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Silenus asked.

"I just learned, that's all," Rion answered nervously. He was turning red in the face. Helios was more startled by this that the incredible moves Rion has performed minutes earlier. He had never seen a minotaur blush, ever.

Helios looked down at the digital timer around his wrist. "You know what, let's all take a break. Get a shower and meet down at the cafeteria. You'll get a free lunch, on me. I'll see you later today, probably before you leave for the day. The hard work is done, and I must say, I am impressed. You'll have some papers to fill out and a meet up with a few other superiors."

They poured out of the training center. Harpalyce had Iphis thrown over one shoulder and carried the rotund Silenus under one arm like a barrel. Rion was the last to leave, limping slightly on the leg the trainer automaton had snatched.

With the interns gone, Helios leaned against a wall. The sweat pouring from his forehead steamed and dissipated into the air.

&&&

Helios did not see the interns for the rest of the week. They had to visit the different floors of the precinct as well as with other superiors. These visitations would allow the interns to decide what floor they would like to work on, since there was much more to the precinct than just the jail.

"You're going to love this," Chiron said as he trotted into Helios's office. In his hand he held a thick folder of papers.

"What are these? You know I don't do paperwork," Helios said.

"We all know that," Chiron said, who in rank, was just under Helios. That meant he was constantly submerged in the paperwork Helios did not have to do or want to do or care to do. The most Helios did to paperwork was sign it, if he even cared to do that. Chiron was a quite good at duplicating Helios's signature.

"Renouncements from the interns," Chiron said. "Man, you just beat Taurus out. He normally makes at least three interns change their mind by the end of the day. He's not going to be too thrilled when he comes back."

"He's coming back?" asked Helios. "So I take it he's caught Proteus."

"Yes, we just got a transmission from him this morning. He's chased Proteus through Greece, Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean, and finally caught him in a place called New York City," said Chiron.

"Any humans see him?" asked Helios.

"You won't believe it but, just guess," Chiron said.

"No, just tell me," said Helios, the flames on his head rose dangerously.

"Elisa Maza saw him, that's it, the only human," Chiron said. "The only human."

"That bitch?" Helios exclaimed. "Zeus be damned. How the Hades could that possibly happen? There are billions of slimy, smelly humans in the world, and he runs into the slimiest, lowest of them all."

"Methinks he wasn't just hunting down Proteus," chuckled Chiron.

"Methinks that also," Helios said. "How long till he returns?"

"About two days, maybe a day," answered Chiron.

"Okay, now about those renouncements, how many did I lose?" Helios asked.

"Five out of the six," answered Chiron.

"You're kidding me? Why?" Helios said, shocked.

"Well, Harpalyce just got an offering from Ares this morning. He personally came to see her; he wants her to be a trainer. She took it immediately. Silenus decided two days after he came here he didn't like it at all. The library offered to hire him as a guard, he accepted it. Iphis quit on his first day. It says here on his renouncement that he suffered some shoulder damage. Calypso did really well up until they introduced her to the prisoners, and they made her cry. She ran out of the prison block in tears. Alexander quit five minutes ago. Called this place a joke, threw down his collar, and stormed out," Chiron answered.

"Do you know what made him so pissed?" asked Helios.

"Apparently he thought he would immediately get a good position. He was mad that his first two years here would be as a file clerk. A file clerk with a badge," said Chiron.

"And that leaves Rion. How's he doing?"

"Doing great, it doesn't look like he'll be quitting anytime soon," said Chiron. "I don't know how Taurus is going to like him though, since Taurus is the only other minotaur here. Rion might give him a run for his money."

"Well, at least one hard thing is done. We don't have to choose which intern goes where," said Helios. "Looks like Rion is getting the top spot. I better go congratulate him."

&&&

Helios found Rion downstairs in the male locker room. The brown minotaur stood with his back to Helios. He was taking a change of street clothes out of his gym bag. The minotaur had taken his harness and wore only the loin cloth. On his one leg he sported a black brace.

"That leg still bothering you?" asked Helios. Rion pulled a shirt over his head before facing Helios.

"Not really, but the head nurse told me to wear it for the next two weeks. I think I'm going to take it off tomorrow though," Rion answered. "So, why you here?"

"To congratulate you. You made it," Helios said, holding his hand out. Rion took it.

"Seriously?" Rion asked mid-shake. "What happened to everyone else? Didn't they make it?"

"Things popped up, and for lack of better words, they quit," Helios said. Rion's arm went limp.

"So I just got this position because everyone quit?" Rion asked downtrodden. He cocked an eyebrow.

"No, no, no," Helios tried to clarify. He wasn't good with people or words. "You saw how you did in all the courses. You did great, knocked the wind out of the competition. And you stuck to it. Some people quit because they got job offerings and other quit because they couldn't take the heat. You stuck to it and gave it your all. You deserve it. With them gone, there won't be any complaints saying that they deserve your position," Helios said.

"Seriously?" Rion asked.

"Look, you got the spot. Now, then, do you want to go get some ouzo at the Maenad with Chiron and me?" Helios asked.

"I guess," Rion answered. "I'm not really doing anything else tonight. Why the Hades not?"

The minotaur slung his gym bag over his shoulder and followed Helios out the door.

&&&

"So what made you chose to get into law enforcement?" Helios asked. Chiron left a few minutes earlier after one drink due to a call from his wife. Rion polished off his third glass.

"Well, after my boyfriend Julius passed away, I decided I didn't want a job, I wanted a career," answered Rion. "Jobs are nice, they put money on the table, but in the end, it's just a job. You go to work, your earn money, you come home, you eat dinner, you sleep, you wake up, you go to work, and the whole cycle starts over again. A career has a future, you don't just do something, and you earn something, not just money. I wanted that. I guess I want to feel useful."

"Really? So what was your job prior to here?" Helios asked. Rion ducked down slightly.

"I worked at the Salmacis," Rion answered, his voice hushed, despite the obvious din of the bar.

"The Salmacis? I'm guessing you were a bouncer, looking at the way you handled those trainer bots, " said Helios.

"No."

"Waiter?"

"No, I was a stripper," Rion answered. His teeth gritted at the answer, obviously he did not like discussing it.

"You're kidding? How the Hades did you manage to get here?" asked Helios. "I mean, from a male stripper to a lawman, how did you manage that? That's a quite a leap."

"Like I said, after Julius died from lung failure, I couldn't do my job anymore. I did it because Julius needed the money for his treatment, now it wasn't worth it. I had a discussion with one my clients, it happened to be the harpy in charge of recruitment at a local school," Rion answered. "Boom, in two days I quit my job and was head of the class at the college and boom, eighteen months later I'm an intern here."

Helios scratched his chin. "Lung failure? I never heard of that before, most of those things are taken care. Most people don't die from that. People don't die young unless it is from an accident or murderer. Don't you think that the hospitals could have taken care of it?"

"It was congenital. He had it since birth and a fire when he was two in his apartment made it worse," said Rion.

"Fire?" Helios said. "Those just don't happen."

"They do. Things happen. You're upper-class," said Rion.

"Yes, aren't you?"

"No, I'm from the lower class. Things are different down in the slums," said Rion.

"Slums?"

"What, didn't you know they exist? They exist, they're there. Just like the sewer pipes below our feet. You know they are there, but they are covered up, hidden, just so that people can't see how unpleasant they are," Rion said. His tone took on a Taurus voice. "And if you know they are there, you can ignore them. Just like some people ignore the sewer pipes."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you," Helios said.

"It's all right," said Rion. He took another glass. "I'm hoping to change that. I'm hoping to work my way up, or at least get enough respect so that I can consult with Boreas."

"Seriously?" asked Helios.

"Yes, why? Does it sound ridiculous?" Rion asked.

"No, but there are quicker ways to get what you want," said Helios.

"I'm guessing there is a catch, but I'll listen," Rion said.

"Rion, you've got brains, brawns, and skills—physical and mental skills. You see, Jove and I have this organization forming, and we need someone like you to run with us. You'll be perfect for recruiting the lower class," Helios said. "Join us, and you and your people will be helped out in the end. The benefits of joining are endless."

"What kind of organization?" Rion asked, a tinge cynical. He leaned forward on the table, looking at Helios with the same exact glare Taurus would give his second in command.

"Here, we'll discuss it outside," Helios said. He threw coins on the table and headed outside.

Helios and Rion stood in one the back alley behind the bar.

"If this is some kind of organization to usurp Boreas, I'm completely against it," Rion stated, crossing his arms.

"It's not, I can promise you that," said Helios.

"Then what is it?" Rion asked; he was starting to sound peeved.

"Have you ever read the history books? The history between us and those, those humans," Helios said, spitting out the word human like a burnt pine nut.

"Well yes. There were problems between us. We fought, we battled, we killed each other, and then we, the Olympians left the mainland and found New Olympus," stated Rion. His ears flicked. "All New Olympians know that."

"Right. The humans hated us, killed us, mutilated us. They tortured us, and then, would brag about it as if they were heroes. They would slaughter babes and women as if it was nothing and call us monsters, when they truly were the monsters," Helios snarled, forming fists in his hands. Tongues of flames popped on his head.

"Helios, this may surprise, but to them we were the monsters," Rion said, startled.

"What?" Helios exclaimed, the fire on his head rose a foot then shrank down.

"Have you ever looked at the picture of humans in the old text? They were tiny, they were weak. We could be up to ten times their size. And to top that, they didn't have horns, or wings, or talons, or tails, or fire for hair, they didn't have animal limbs or parts of animals. They were basically naked. We had all the bells and whistles. Imagine what they thought when they saw a minotaur; it looked like their dear old Bessie in the barn got up on two legs and suddenly could talk, and not only that, Bessie had fangs in place of dull teeth. Or what about if they saw you? Your head was on fire, yet you weren't writhing in pain or burning. You could form fire without flint and handled it as they handled rocks. You were demon to them. They were frightened of us," Rion said.

"Then why did they do what they did Rion? Why did they kill us?"

"Because they were scared. Because they are mortals just like us," Rion answered. "They're not perfect. We're not perfect. None of us are gods Helios. We make mistakes, we act out in fear. We do stupid things. It just comes with being mortal."

"But they murdered so many of us!"

"And we did the same in the response. There is a text where the original Minotaur, Asterion, was locked in the Labyrinth and starved until he was so weaken he could barely move. Then Theseus came and found Asterion. He broke the Minotaur's back and cut his head off. Then in the next scroll, the Minotaur's son Asterius spends eight pages discussing how he smashed the backs of all the inhabitants, men, women, children, the young, the sick, and elderly, with his hooves. They had nothing to do with Theseus, especially the children. They were harmless," snarled Rion.

"Rion, humans are vermin. They are weak for a reason, and they still are very weak. Do you know what life was like before all the battles? Before our exile?" Helios begged.

"No."

"The text, only bits and pieces remain, but they are legible if you can read the old language. Humans weren't our enemies, they were our slaves. They worshiped us, they worked for us. They tended the fields and animals, they made sacrifices for us, build temples in our honor," said Helios. "Then they turned on us, their masters, their protectors. Like spoiled little children they pulled themselves from our hands and they were lost. And what could they do? The only thing they could do other than return to us was lash out at us. Lash out in anger because of their own stupidity."

"Let me guess, this organization is remind humanity of their place, on their knees in front of our altars," Rion said.

"Exactly, think about it, Rion," Helios said. "The humans will be ours again. They will work in the factories, in the menial jobs, work as tailors and shoemakers, as janitors."

"And what about the New Olympians who do those jobs? Where will they go? They can't exact just sit back and do nothing, and they can't exactly suddenly move up to the upper-class or suddenly work in very elaborate jobs. What will happen to them now that these humans are taking their jobs?" Rion asked.

"But everyone becomes rich when the humans become our slaves again," Helios said.

"No, it doesn't work out like that," Rion said. "You can't make such a drastic change like that. It won't work out. In over five thousand years we've changed, and the humans changed with us. They won't go as easily as they did before when they foolish and primitive. You know that. Our radar picks up ships, water and air ships, and communications all the time from them. They're smart and advance, they are sneaking up on us. In the past ten years we noticed a drastic change; it's only a matter of time. We have to quit accepting them as lessers and take them as equals otherwise we become the lessers."

"No, I won't let that happen. Rion, they're monsters. They kill each other all the time like it is nothing. In fact, they kill each other in a greater amount than when they were slaying New Olympians. In fact, sometimes they don't even have a reason to kill each other, they just do. They haven't changed, they're still monsters," Helios exclaimed. "We New Olympians are not like them. We don't kill each other like that."

Rion crossed his arms. "I suppose I could bring up Proteus and Taurus's father. Proteus didn't have a reason for crushing Taurus's father, but I'm not going to bog myself down in that story. I read it a hundred times in the Grand Library. And you probably already heard it a million times since you work with Chief Taurus. I have another story, one you may have heard, but forgotten. I remember it well."

Rion leaned against the wall. "Over thirty years ago in the slums there was a fire. One building caught on fire. Now as you know, fires are uncommon in New Olympus, but they are not that particularly uncommon in the slums. Someone tries to light a fire, and accidentally something goes up in flame, a candle gets knocked down, a table catches on fire. They're commonplace, but normally taken care of quickly, by the residents or the rarely known fire department. Now this building, no one was sure how exactly this fire started. But this building was a huge, old residential hall, hundreds of years old; it could easily catch on fire and burn down. The fire started on the first floor, so all the people above the first floor were trapped. The building burnt down before the fire department was alerted. Five people survived; an woman, a man, two young boys, and an elderly lady. The man lost his whole family, he committed suicide five months later. He hung himself from a support beam near the fire. The woman was in a coma for sixteen years before she finally passed away. The elderly woman lived in the burnt ruins of the building until finally death took her. It was the only home she ever knew, and she blamed herself for that fire because she was the landlady. The one boy who survived had lung problems since birth. He had just finally healed up after dozens of surgeries, he couldn't wait to finally go outside with his family and have a picnic. The smoke ruined his lungs again. Not only that, he was haunted by images of his family dying around him. Years later, the smell of smoke or the sight of fire sends him into shock. Nearly two years ago he was put to rest, hopefully gaining the peace he was denied through life."

"But there was one other survivor," said Helios.

"He's the only survivor, the only one who is still alive to tell the story. He spent years bogged down in fear and denial. He tried to hide what happened deep inside of him, tried to hide what he saw, what he knew. He tried to act as if it never happened, but every time he walked pass that burnt down structure, he knew what happened. And when they built a new building over the foundation of the old one, he knew that despite the fact they were buried, the truths were still there, the memories were still there. If that building would crumble, those truths and memories would resurface again. Finally, after twenty years, the boy accepted what happened. Shortly after that he met the first boy, and he helped him heal. And after they both fell in love, the one boy knew he had to do something, but he didn't know what. After his lover passed away, the boy knew what he needed to do, what he needed to do to make everything right," Rion said.

"Is it typical for you minotaurs to hold onto something that happened so long ago in the past? Why can't you just let it go? You can't live like that," Helios said. "You can't hold onto ghosts."

Rion shook his head. He looked up at Helios and managed a weak smile. "I know. But you can't deny them either, Helios. They're there. People can say they don't exist, and there are the nut-jobs like me who say there are and jump around all over the place looking for them. It is amazing though, sometimes you do find them. But most of the time, you just come across them by coincidence. Often when you're not even looking for them. They just pop up from the graves and they tell you what you wanted to know, or let you infer more often."

Helios shook his head. "Minotaurs."

Rion turned away. He looked up at the night sky, at the constellations. Andromeda the chained woman was in the sky tonight. "The landlady blames herself for the fire. She left the oven on she says. And that's what the report reads."

"You were in the reports?" Helios exclaimed. "You're not allowed in those!"

"The library reports," Rion answered. "Open to the public."

He looked over his shoulder. "Files say one thing. Memories say another. But I was in the office files, to see if I was wrong. I wasn't."

"What? What the Hades are you talking about?" Helios exclaimed.

"The fire started in the downstairs bedroom of three children. It was thrown in through the window. It was arson perhaps. Or maybe just a foolish prank. A week later, an upper class family that lived nearby moved away. No one knows what happened to them. The mother and father are still alive, the two daughters are married with children, and the son works a government job," Rion said.

"You minotaurs and your stupid theories, what are you going to do if you find this guy?" Helios asked.

"I already know," Rion said.

"Then what is it?" Helios asked.

"If you think I'm big on revenge, you're wrong. An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind," Rion said. "I'll just dig up ghosts. It's the best way. Let them choose."

"I never could understand you minotaurs," Helios said.

"Make it minotaur," Rion said. "I quit."

"What?"

"I quit. You can go to your organization, back to your job."

Helios turned around and began to head out of the alley, the flames on his head rolling and burning.

"Helios, one more thing," said Rion.

"What?"

"My brother and sister were in that room. My brother was one and my sister was two," Rion stated. He looked down at the street. It was beginning to rain.

Helios left, leaving Rion in the alley.

As he walked down the street, Helios remembered how rain never could put a fire out.

_PHEW! I wrote this in two days!_


End file.
